specialty

English

Alternative forms

• speciality (British / Commonwealth spelling)

Etymology

From Old French specialte, especialte, from Latin specialitas.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛʃəlti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

specialty (plural specialties) (American spelling)

1. That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent.

   They cook well overall, but their true specialty is pasta.

   • 1858, Charles Kingsley, “My Winter-Garden”, in Fraser’s Magazine‎^[1], volume 57, page 410:

     Even men of boundless knowledge, like Humboldt, must have had once their speciality, their pet subject, or they would have, strictly speaking, no knowledge at all.

2. A product that originates in and is characteristic of a place.
3. (obsolete) Particularity.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     The specialty of rule hath been neglected:
     And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
     Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions.

4. A particular or peculiar case.
5. An attribute or quality peculiar to a species.
6. (law) A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Let specialties be therefore drawne betweene vs,
     That couenants may be kept on either hand.

   • 1812, Joseph Chitty, A Treatise on Pleading, with a Collection of Practical Precedents, and Notes Thereon, 2nd American edition, edited by Thomas Day, New York, Volume 2, section 456, note c,^[2]

     […] in a plea to an action of debt on specialty, it is still necessary to show that the debt on which the judgment was recovered was a specialty, or to aver that the judgment was recovered before the defendant had notice of the plaintiff’s demand.

Derived terms

• specialty crop
• specialty shop
• specialty store

 

Related terms

• specialist
• subspecialty
• subspecialist

Translations

that in which one specializes

• Arabic: اِخْتِصَاص m (iḵtiṣāṣ)

  Egyptian Arabic: اختصاص m (exteṣāṣ)

• Armenian: մասնագիտություն (hy) (masnagitutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: специа́лност (bg) f (speciálnost)
• Catalan: especialitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 專業／专业 (zh) (zhuānyè), 專長／专长 (zh) (zhuāncháng) (special skill), 擅長／擅长 (zh) (shàncháng) (special skill)

• Czech: specialita (cs) f
• Dutch: specialiteit (nl) f, terrein (nl) n
• Finnish: erikoisuus (fi), erikoisala, spesialiteetti
• French: spécialité (fr) f
• German: Spezialität (de) f
• Greek: ειδικότητα (el) f (eidikótita)
• Hungarian: különlegesség (hu), specialitás (hu)
• Icelandic: sérréttur m
• Italian: specialità (it) f
• Japanese: 専門 (ja) (せんもん, semmon)
• Korean: 특산물 (ko) (teuksanmul)
• Macedonian: специја́лност f (specijálnost)
• Marathi: विशेषता f (viśeṣtā), खासियत f (khāsiyat)
• Norwegian: spesialitet
• Persian: تخصص (fa) (taxassos)
• Polish: specjalność (pl) f, specjalizacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: especialidade (pt) f
• Russian: специа́льность (ru) f (speciálʹnostʹ), специализа́ция (ru) f (specializácija)
• Spanish: especialidad (es) f
• Swedish: specialitet (sv) c, specialité c
• Tagalog: katangian
• Ukrainian: спеціа́льність (uk) f (speciálʹnistʹ)

product that is characteristic of a place

• German: Spezialität (de) f
• Swedish: specialitet (sv) c, specialité c
• Vietnamese: đặc sản

particularity — see particularity

particular or peculiar case

• Bulgarian: особен случай m (osoben slučaj)
• Finnish: erikoistapaus
• Tagalog: katangian

attribute or quality peculiar to a species

• Bulgarian: особеност (bg) f (osobenost)
• Finnish: erityispiirre
• German: Arteigenschaft f
• Macedonian: осо́беност f (osóbenost), осо́бина f (osóbina)
• Tagalog: katangian

legal: contract or obligation under seal